A biblical psalm. What are the psalms?

People who are far from religion may not even know what a psalm is. In the Bible, there is a whole book inspired by God, consisting of 150 such laudatory songs. By whom and when were they written?

What is the psalms: the definition

These are religious songs of laudatory character that are used to worship God. This applies to Judaism and Christianity.

In other words, the genre of prayer poetry - this is the psalm. What What distinguishes these lyrical works?

Originally they were vocal compositions,designed for performance to the accompaniment of musical instruments. The headings to some psalms indicate which ones. Jews used to sing these sacred songs on holidays.

Each psalm is unique in its artistic value. What is the difference between the structure of the song itself? What is unusual about it?

Building Psalms

It is interesting that in the original text writtenin Hebrew, there is no rhyme, and the rhythm of these lyrical works is based on artistic parallelism. Each psalm is divided into so-called verses, or stanzas. For convenience, in most translations into Russian, they are numbered and printed each with a new line. Such a structure distinguished these poetic books from other parts of the Bible written by prose.

Many psalms are composed in the form of acrostic (the initial letters of each stanza form the Hebrew alphabet). This helped to memorize the text.

Authorship

The book was written for more than 1000 years. The author of the 90th and 91st Psalm is Moses, who lived in the 16th century BC. e. The words from the 126th and 137th eulogies, in which Jerusalem is remembered in ruins and the Babylonian captivity, indicate that this composition was created after liberation, that is, approximately in the 6th century BC. e.

Most of the psalms were written by David, who himselfwas a musician. At least one belongs to Solomon's hand. Asaf is claimed as the author of 12 songs. Also in the creation of the hymns, the sons of Korea and Yefan took part in the praise of God. The authorship of four dozen psalms is not established.

Topics

Each psalm is a prayer, an appeal to the Creator withrequest, praise or gratitude. In general terms, the main leitmotif is the relationship with God. Much attention is paid to the affairs and qualities of the Most High, for example, kindness, mercy, compassion. But these are not faceless prayers, but, on the contrary, emotionally painted appeals to the Creator.

The Psalmists had a very close relationship with Him andthey did not hesitate to express their deepest feelings - from joy, hope, admiration and gratitude to grief, sorrow and remorse. Some of the songs are just cries for the help of a person who has found himself in a desperate situation. Each psalm has such a bright emotional color that this state is easily transmitted to the reader.

David's personal experiences formed the basis of his songs.

He experienced much bitterness and joy in his path: defeated the giant Goliath, became the son-in-law of the king, lived for a long time as an exile in the desert, fleeing from his father-in-law, sat on the throne in Jerusalem, seriously sinned, suffered from strife in his family. Those who ask for forgiveness from God will be close to the 52nd Psalm. What is special was the reason for writing it? David created it after he comprehended the whole gravity of his actions - adultery with Bathsheba and the arranged murder of her husband.

There are also many useful instructions,expressed in sublime artistic language. Some psalms are a retrospective of events from the history of the Israeli people. Others contain prophecies, most of which concern the Messiah.

Reading these songs is one pleasure. They contain not only artistic but also spiritual value.